The explosion of Eirian's magic sent them all scurrying like rats again, even startling those seated right out of their chairs.
Lord Chang looked close to wetting himself at the flames that unfurled around her and reached towards them. Amusingly enough, the little birds didn't seem bothered. They chittered cheerfully on the branches, seemingly unaware of the threat of Eirian's magic.
Eirian fed the flames until Chenzhou finally cleared his throat and ordered everyone back to the table. They reluctantly took their seats. Chenzhou even pulled her chair out for her as Yuze cautiously approached the branch and started retrieving the messages.
"Perhaps this abush was for the best," Chenzhou said, fury lacing his words. A few of the court members look apologetic, but not nearly enough. "I will take a moment to address any concerns you imagine you have."
A few bristled at his words, but no one dared to speak with Eirian's flames still permeating the room. With each message Yuze collected, each sparrow darted out the open window, but Eirian kept the branch alive until the last bird was out the window. A demonstration of power that didn't go unnoticed.
Chenzhou took advantage of the silence. "Well? Speak now if you have something to say. I will not entertain this conversation twice."
Eirian couldn't tell if they were angrier with her presence or Chenzhou's attitude.
It took a few moments for someone to work up the courage. The short, round man that had been so loud before. "What is there to discuss? It seems you have already made all the decisions without us. Your council."
"My marriage is not a matter of debate."
"The quality of your wife is." Another lord with sharp, pinched features hissed.
"My wife is second in line to the throne of Sorrow. The only woman in this kingdom of more value than her is the Queen herself." Chenzhou growled.
It was odd to be defended so strongly by someone who had only known her for a couple of days. Philip had known her for most of her life, yet he'd never felt the need to speak out for her. The few times she'd asked him to, he'd always claimed it wasn't his place. Her rank meant none of the gossip or whispers should bother her, and she was supposed to be so high above them anyway. Philip had always been convinced nothing hurt her because she was so powerful. Eirian had never understood the connection he made between her magic and her heart, but nothing she'd said could ever change his mind, and she'd eventually stopped trying.
Philip had met the defiant child and never seen anything else, but he knew her better than anyone else. Eirian had confided everything to him…well, everything within reason. Philip's competitiveness and her own had always left their relationship fraught with enough conflict that she could never completely relax. And Eric, who was Eirian's closest confidant, had never liked him. Out of respect, Eirian had never shared anything that her cousin had shared with her. Philip had always hated being left out.
Chenzhou seemed less concerned with that, but time would tell. Perhaps Chenzhou believed he knew her better than that, due to the time he'd spent negotiating with her father.
She needed to read all those communications at some point. She wanted to find out what her father had been saying and promising, if there was any hint about what he hoped to achieve with all of this.
Perhaps Chenzhou was simply desperate enough to trust the stranger he'd chosen.
"If this is such a good choice, what are all these messages? An older lord with snow white hair waved at Yuze and his handfuls of messages.
Eirian let the branch fade away as Chenzhou debated allowing them to receive the messages. He glanced at Eirian, and she knew exactly what he was concerned about. If Eric had written anything that revealed that he or Eirian had been blindsided by the marriage or that the king wasn't supportive, it could weaken Chenzhou and Eirian's position.
It was possible the messages were something else, something positive, but Eric spoke sparingly, and his messages were the same.
For him to have sent so many…
But the court had seen them, and any attempt to conceal them could do just as much damage as anything written in them.
Chenzhou may have been the Lord of the Camelia, but his court helped him lead it. Losing their support could be crippling.
Especially with Chenzhou already so weak.
Finally, Chenzhou nodded to Yuze, who began distributing the messages.
Eirian was the only one who didn't get one, and she waved off Chenzhou's questioning look.
Lord Chang was one of the first to open his, and Eirian watched his eyes fly over it a few times before he finally looked away.
Something caught Eirian's attention before she could ask him what it said. Yuze approached the head healer and the grumpy one Eirian had met the day before. He handed the head healer his message, but he dropped Grumpy's on the table in front of him and moved on without acknowledging him.
Eirian raised an eyebrow. Yuze seemed so controlled and professional all the time, and seeing him act like a petulant teenager was jarring.
Jarring and amusing.
Grumpy healer looked like he was about to say something to Yuze, but the spy master moved on so quickly he missed his chance, falling into place just behind Chenzhou's chair.
"Well, what do they say?" Chenzhou asked the room, not having opened his own yet.
The tall, slim Lady, who seemed genuinely annoyed by everything, dropped her message on the table. "The complaints of a child."
"My cousin is hardly a child," Eirian snapped.
"Reminders of his power, his rank, and his displeasure at this marriage." Another lady offered, waving her own message.
"Mine's rather threatening," A lord further down the table offered.
"As is mine." The man next to him added.
"He seems rather concerned we will mistreat you," the older lord offered, and he didn't sound pleased. "I am unsure why our reputation seems to have fallen so far in the eyes of the capital when we have done nothing but defend the borders of the empire as we were tasked."
Eirian snorted. "You have abandoned the capital. There is no one there telling the world of your great deeds. Your sacrifices. They are all too busy singing their own to waste time singing yours."
"Our deeds speak for themselves," the young lord who'd touched the leaf stated, his eyes burning with an intensity that Eirian recognized.
She saw it often enough when she looked in a mirror.
~ tbc